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Nikolay Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol was one of the first to use the technique of the grotesque, in works such as " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and "Nevsky Prospekt". These stories, and others such as " Diary of a Madman", have also been noted for their proto-surrealist qualities. According to Viktor Shklovsky, Gogol's strange style of writing resembles the "ostranenie" technique of defamiliarization. His early works, such as ''Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka'', were influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing, Ukrainian culture and folklore. His later writing satirised political corruption in the Russian Empire (''The Government Inspector'', ''Dead Souls''). The novel ''Taras Bulba'' (1835), the play ''Marriage' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daguerreotype
Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839, the daguerreotype was almost completely superseded by 1860 with new, less expensive processes, such as ambrotype ( collodion process), that yield more readily viewable images. There has been a revival of the daguerreotype since the late 20th century by a small number of photographers interested in making artistic use of early photographic processes. To make the image, a daguerreotypist polished a sheet of silver-plated copper to a mirror finish; treated it with fumes that made its surface light-sensitive; exposed it in a camera for as long as was judged to be necessary, which could be as little as a few seconds for brightly sunlit subjects or much longer with less intense lighting; made the resulting lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Overcoat
"The Overcoat" (russian: Шине́ль, translit. Shinyél’; sometimes translated as "The Cloak") is a short story by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story has had a great influence on Russian literature. Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé, discussing Russian realist writers, said: "We all came out from under Gogol's Overcoat" (a quote often misattributed to Dostoevsky). Writing in 1941, Vladimir Nabokov described "The Overcoat" as "The greatest Russian short story ever written". Plot The story narrates the life and death of titular councillor Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin (Russian: Акакий Акакиевич Башмачкин), an impoverished government clerk and copyist in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. Although Akaky is dedicated to his job, he is little recognized in his department for his hard work. Instead, the younger clerks tease him and attempt to distract him whenever they can. His threadbare overcoat is often the butt of their jok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Carriage
"The Carriage" (or "The Coach" in some translations; russian: Коляска) is an 1836 short story by Nikolai Gogol, one of his shortest works. The story centers on the life of a former cavalry officer and landowner near a small Russian town. After reading the story, Anton Chekhov wrote to Alexei Suvorin, "What an artist he is! His 'Carriage' alone is worth two hundred thousand rubles. Sheer delight, nothing less." Background Nikolay Vasilievich Gogol (1809–1852) was a well-known Russian novelist and short-story writer. He was born and raised in Ukraine and moved to St. Petersburg in 1828. His short story "The Carriage" was published in the first volume of Pushkin's literary journal ''The Contemporary'' in 1836. It is speculated that Gogol wrote the short story to echo Pushkin's '' Tales of Belkin'', as he mimics Pushkin's use of anecdotes, irony, and structure in media res. It is classified as one of his Petersburg tales (along with "Nevsky Prospekt", "The Diary of a Madman" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Portrait (short Story)
"The Portrait" (russian: Портрет) is a short story by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, originally published in the short story collection ''Arabesques'' in 1835. It is one of Gogol's most demonic of tales, hinting at some of his earlier works such as " St. John's Eve" and " Viy". Plot summary "The Portrait" is the story of a young and penniless artist, Andrey Petrovich Chartkov, who stumbles upon a terrifyingly lifelike portrait in an art shop and is compelled to buy it. The painting is magical and offers him a dilemma — to struggle to make his own way in the world on the basis of his own talents or to accept the assistance of the magic painting to guaranteed riches and fame. He chooses to become rich and famous, but when he comes upon a portrait from another artist which is "pure, faultless, beautiful as a bride" he comes to realize that he has made the wrong choice. Eventually, he falls ill and dies from a fever. Part I The first part of the story takes place in nineteen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Tale Of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled With Ivan Nikiforovich
"The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich" (russian: «Повесть о том, как поссорился Иван Иванович с Иваном Никифоровичем», Povest' o tom, kak possorilsja Ivan Ivanovič s Ivanom Nikiforovičem, 1835), also known in English as ''The Squabble'', is the final tale in the ''Mirgorod'' collection by Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. It is known as one of his most humorous stories. In March 2002, the BBC Radio 4 comedy series ''Three Ivans, Two Aunts and an Overcoat'' adapted the story under the title "The Two Ivans" starring Griff Rhys Jones and Stephen Moore. Plot summary This story takes place in a bucolic small town of Mirgorod (Myrhorod in Ukrainian), written in the style featuring grotesque, realistic portrayals of the characters. The two Ivans are gentlemen landowners, neighbors and great friends, each one almost being the opposite image of the other. Ivan Ivanovich is tall, thin, and well-spoken, for e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marriage (play)
''Marriage'' (russian: «Женитьба», ''Zhenit'ba'') is a two-act play by the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, which was written in 1832 and first published in 1842. Plot summary In the opening scene, a civil servant named Ivan Kuzmich Podkolyosin sits alone in his room smoking a pipe and contemplating marriage. He has hired a matchmaker (Fyokla Ivanovna), as was the custom in Russia at the time, to help find him a bride. As the two converse, the audience discovers that Podkolyosin has been in search of a bride for quite some time. The reason for his not being yet married, however, owes to his own indecisiveness rather than the lack of a suitable partner. In fact, Fyokla has found him a nice young woman named Agafya Tikhonovna. When Podkolyosin's friend Kochkaryov unexpectedly pays a visit and finds Fyokla at Podkolyosin's home, he learns for the first time of his friend's search for a bride. The fact that Podkolyosin has not mentioned it to his friend provides further proo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taras Bulba
''Taras Bulba'' (russian: «Тарас Бульба»; ) is a romanticized historical novella set in the first half of the 17th century, written by Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852). It features elderly Zaporozhian Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons Andriy and Ostap. The sons study at the Kiev Academy and then return home, whereupon the three men set out on a journey to the Zaporizhian Sich (the Zaporizhian Cossack headquarters, located in southern Ukraine) where they join other Cossacks and go to war against Poland. The story was initially published in 1835 as part of the ''Mirgorod'' collection of short stories, but a much expanded version appeared in 1842 with some differences in the storyline. The 1842 text has been described by as a "paragon of civic virtue and a force of patriotic edification", contrasting the rhetoric of the 1835 version with its "distinctly Cossack jingoism". Inspiration The character of Taras Bulba, the main hero of this novel, is a composite of several hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukrainian Folklore
Ukrainian folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Ukraine and among ethnic Ukrainians. The earliest examples of folklore found in Ukraine is the layer of pan-Slavic folklore that dates back to the ancient Slavic mythology of the Eastern Slavs. Gradually, Ukrainians developed a layer of their own distinct folk culture. Folklore has been an important tool in defining and retaining a cultural distinctiveness in Ukraine in the face of strong assimilatory pressures from neighboring lands. Distinctiveness Ukrainian folk customs have numerous layers defined by the period in which that aspect developed and the area in which it was exploited. The lowest and oldest level is the pan-Slavic layer of folk culture which has many elements that are common to the Slavic people in general. Above that are elements common to the Eastern Slavs, and above that are elements found only in Ukraine itself. The layer above this contains cultural and folkloric elements that define the various m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukrainian Culture
The culture of Ukraine is the composite of the material and spiritual values of the Ukrainian people that has formed throughout the history of Ukraine. It is closely intertwined with ethnic studies about ethnic Ukrainians and Ukrainian historiography which is focused on the history of Kyiv and the region around it. History Although the country has often struggled to preserve its independence its people have managed to retain their cultural possessions and are proud of the considerable cultural legacy they have created. Numerous writers have contributed to the country's literary history such as Ivan Kotliarevsky, Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Franko. The Ukrainian culture has experienced a significant resurgence since the establishment of independence in 1991. The earliest evidence of cultural artefacts in the Ukrainian lands can be traced to decorated mammoth tusks in the Neanderthal era. Later, the nomadic tribes of the southern lands of the 4th century BCE, like the Scythians, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sovetsky Pisatel
Sovetsky Pisatel ( rus, Советский писатель, r=Sovetskij pisatel, lit. "Soviet Writer") is a Soviet and Russian book publisher headquartered in Moscow, Russia. It focused on releasing the new works of Soviet authors. It was established in 1934, since 1938 served as the publisher for the Union of Soviet Writers, in 1992 it was turned into a commercial organization, owned by Arseny Larionov. The company was founded by the Union of Soviet Writers' organising committee prior to the First Сongress of the Soviet Writers in 1933. It was then called Sovetskaya Literatura (Советская литература, "Soviet Literature"). Sovetsky Pisatel was the result of a merger between Sovetskaya Literatura and two Soviet publishing companies —Moscow Writers Partnership ( rus, Московское товарищество писателей, r=Moskovskoe tovarishhestvo pisatelej, links=no) and Writers' Publishing House in Leningrad ( rus, Издательство писат ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defamiliarization
Defamiliarization or ''ostranenie'' ( rus, остранение, p=ɐstrɐˈnʲenʲɪjə) is the artistic technique of presenting to audiences common things in an unfamiliar or strange way so they could gain new perspectives and see the world differently. According to the Russian formalists who coined the term, it is the central concept of art and poetry. The concept has influenced 20th-century art and theory, ranging over movements including Dada, postmodernism, epic theatre, science fiction, and philosophy; additionally, it is used as a tactic by recent movements such as culture jamming. Coinage The term "defamiliarization" was first coined in 1917 by Russian formalist Viktor Shklovsky in his essay "Art as Device" (alternate translation: "Art as Technique"). Shklovsky invented the term as a means to "distinguish poetic from practical language on the basis of the former's perceptibility." Essentially, he is stating that poetic language is fundamentally different than the la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viktor Shklovsky
Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky ( rus, Ви́ктор Бори́сович Шкло́вский, p=ˈʂklofskʲɪj; – 6 December 1984) was a Russian and Soviet literary theorist, critic, writer, and pamphleteer. He is one of the major figures associated with Russian formalism. Viktor Shklovsky's ''Theory of Prose'' was published in 1925. Shklovsky himself is still praised as "one of the most important literary and cultural theorists of the twentieth century" (Modern Language Association Prize Committee); "one of the most lively and irreverent minds of the last century" (David Bellos); "one of the most fascinating figures of Russian cultural life in the twentieth century" ( Tzvetan Todorov) Life Shklovsky was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. His father was a Lithuanian Jewish mathematician (with ancestors from Shklov) who converted to Russian Orthodoxy and his mother was of German-Russian origin. He attended St. Petersburg University. During the First World War, he volunteere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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